Monteith Monitoring Report

Water & Land Solutions is in its second year of monitoring one of the most unique mitigation banks in the industry which is located north of Charlotte, North Carolina. This past week WLS team members finished collecting data needed to complete the 2016 Monitoring Report. We are happy to announce that the project is looking great! We found great diversity and quantities of various benthic macroinvertebrates (small animals living among stones, logs, sediments and aquatic plants on the bottom of streams, rivers, and lakes). These “benthics” indicate the stream is on its way to becoming a healthy and vibrant ecosystem! Some organisms that we discovered included crayfish, salamanders, mayflies, caddisfly, and a damselfly. Considering that benthic surveys of the stream prior to construction indicated no presence of any of these benthics, this is a great example of success in a short timeframe! It’s great to see that our hard work pays off by creating great habitats for these key species.

Pictured above is a Damselfly. These insects are very similar to dragonflies, but have slimmer bodies. The pictured Damselfly is in the nymph stage, which live in a variety of freshwater habitats.

Pictured above is Salamander. It is an amphibian, typically characterized by its lizard like appearance. They have permeable skin which makes them reliant on habitats that are in or around water.